Rambam - Sefer HaMitzvos: Positive Mitzvah 5: Positive Mitzvah 5

This is not an error of duplication. The full-fledged version of this Mitzvah are many and change for those who are learning the one/three chapter a day. The Message for the day from "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth" at the end of this Mitzvah is different than that of yesterday.

Positive Mitzvah 5: Worshiping G-d - "Prayer"
Exodus 23:25 "And you shall serve the L-rd, your G-d"

Imagine a magnificent palace with servants always ready to serve the king. Some stand by his throne, others bring him food, and, still others, tailor his velvet robes.

This service is fit for a king.

HaShem is the King of all kings! He does not ask us to perform these types of service, but rather instructs us to serve Him through Prayer Tefillah.

As subjects of our King, we express our dedication and loyalty by offering our praise and making our requests through prayer.

The teaching of the Baal Shem Tov: Not only is the movement of a leaf as it falls off a tree, the quivering of a blade of grass in the wind -- each and every detail of existence directed, vivified and brought into being at every moment from above -- but beyond that: Every nuance is an essential component of a grand and G-dly scheme, the gestalt of all those vital minutiae. Meditate on this. And then think: How much more so the details of my daily life.

From: Bringing Heaven Down to Earth by Tzvi Freeman - tzvif@aol.com